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Turkey threatens to retaliate against any US sanctions

December 11, 2019
Mevlut Cavusoglu
Mevlut Cavusoglu

ANKARA — Turkey said on Wednesday it would retaliate against any US sanctions over its purchase of Russian defense systems.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, in a television interview suggested that US could be barred from using two strategic air bases in retaliation to possible American sanctions against his country, Turkish state-run news agency reported on Wednesday .

The minister’s remarks came amid reports that US lawmakers will vote — and likely pass — a defense bill later on Wednesday that calls for sanctions against Turkey over Ankara’s decision to procure the S-400 defenses.

Cavusoglu said any US sanctions would harm US-Turkish ties and repeated a threat of retaliation.

“US lawmakers must understand they will get nowhere with impositions. If the United States approaches us positively, we will also react positively. But, if they take negative toward us, then we will retaliate these,” the minister said.

“In the event of a decision to sanction Turkey, the Incirlik and Kurecik airbases can be brought to the agenda,” Cavusoglu was quoted as saying.

Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey has been a main base for US operations in the Middle East and more recently in the fight against Daesh (the so-called IS) in Syria and Iraq, while Kurecik, in eastern Turkey, is a key NATO base.

Turkey and the United States, NATO allies, have been at odds over the purchase.

Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its F-35 fighter jets and cannot be integrated into NATO defenses. In response, it has suspended Turkey from the F-35 jet program, where it was a manufacturer and buyer, and threatened sanctions.

Ties between Ankara and Washington have also been strained over a host of issues in recent years. Turkey has been enraged with the US support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Cavusoglu called the “financing of terrorism” on Wednesday. — AFP


December 11, 2019
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